Download PGN of November '10 1 d4 d5 games
Chebanenko System [D15]
Shulman - Malakhov: Yury Shulman came up with a small innovation in a deep line which seems to be Malakhov's speciality, 19. Kf2:
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However, Vladimir's reaction was inaccurate and if White did not rush to win the pawn Black's task might have been much more difficult.
Main Slav [D17]
Vachier Lagrave - Aronian: In the mainline Levon Aronian came up with a small innovation and obtained sufficient compensation for the pawn. In the ending which soon arose, Maxim Vachier-Lagrave misjudged the position and some inaccurate moves led him to a catastrophe. According to some rumours, both players were almost blitzing but it certainly favoured tricky Levon, who kept everything under control.
Marshall Gambit [D31]
Li Chao - Shulman: Li Chao's clever idea 18.Rd8 caused real problems for Black in a well-known ending which was supposed to be quite acceptable for him:
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White sacrificed a couple of pawns and got his pieces on dominating positions - however, some inaccurate moves eventually made Black's material advantage decisive. Yet White's play can certainly be improved and Black has to do some homework if he still wants to hold the balance in such a way.
Noteboom [D31]
Ganguly - Delchev: Here Black failed to find the best reaction to White's slow rearrangement. As a result he was unable to either disturb White with his Q-side pawn advance or to stop his opponent's K-side initiative. The main problem was his passive light-squared bishop and it caused all his troubles...
QGD Exchange Variation [D35]
Fressinet - Ponomariov (analysed by Ruslan Ponomariov, translated by me): "This game was played in a penultimate round match against the young and ambitious French team. My opponent was the new French champion and my task was to at least not lose..."
Moscow Variation [D43]
Nakamura - Gelfand: Hikaru Nakamura came up with a novelty here which helped him to grab the initiative. However, Boris Gelfand has a huge experience in this line and he forced matters and escaped into a slightly worse ending which he held without serious problems.
Vachier Lagrave - Gelfand: I don't remember any other game in which Boris Gelfand has been caught in a mainline in which he is one of the biggest experts and which he played many times. One cannot be sure but perhaps Maxime Vachier-Lagrave even won this game at home! As to the opening, White keeps a small advantage after Black's pawn push but the ending, which arises by force, still seems defendable for Black...
Botvinnik Variation [D44]
Ragger - Amanov: A relatively rare continuation 19.Nxc5 promised some advantage for White:
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but he spoiled it with some slow manoeuvres. Yet perhaps White should pay more attention to this approach...
See you next month, Ruslan
If you have any questions, then please post a message at the 1 d4 d5 Forum, or subscribers can email me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.